Thursday, October 7, 2010

Halo Reach Easter Eggs

Halo Reach. For those of you looking for hidden areas or items here are some Easter eggs for you.

Easter Egg: Elite Rangers, Golden ElitesThe "Golden Elites" or Elite Rangers (all named "Bob") are Elites with yellow armor and blue helmet visors. They appear in some levels and then quickly vanish into thin air if you don't kill them. It is unknown how difficulty level effects their appearances. You will get a medal for killing these called "Seek and Destroy." Nothing else is known about them. Here are some of the locations where you'll find these strange fellows:

Winter Contingency: On the Campaign level Winter Contingency, quickly make your way through the level and you will randomly encounter the "Elite Ranger". His armor is bright yellow and his helmet has a blue visor that shields his entire face. (He appears on both Legendary and Normal difficulty, but he seems to show up in different areas). Usually he appears during the part of the mission where you're driving Carter and Jorge around looking for the stranded marines. Kill him and you'll be rewarded with a special medal in your medal chest on Bungie.net. He will show up in your statistics as one of the types of enemies you've killed. In the stats section, it lists him as an Elite Ranger, and actually says his name is "Bob".

Nightfall: In the area where you meet up with the colonists fighting a pack of Covenant, this Elite appears and quickly disappears amongst the buildings.

The Package: On the Package, once you enter the gate to Oni Sword Base (Rally Point Alpha), quickly head up the ramp and look to the left to spot the Elite. It's in the courtyard area where you meet up with Noble Team before heading into Sword Base.

The Pillar of Autumn: After the Bugger cave you'll come across two massive buildings in a valley. The second building you come to the one with both Data Pads has a a garage at one end (to the right when facing it). Inside the garage you'll find this Elite.

Easter Egg: The Free Banshee Buttons on the PackageThere are two switches that can be activated by two different players at the beginning of The Package. This Easter Egg is different from the two panels that open Dr. Halsey's lab at the end of the level. You can do this on Normal; no need to start a Legendary game. Before you begin your switch hunting, eliminate all the enemies in the first area. Try to grab a Ghost as well. At the southern end of the lake is a shack. On the north side of the shack, look for a large crate against the wall. Use the Ghost or a melee attack to move this crate.

One person should stay right here. The other person should continue south and get in the Scorpion tank. Use it to destroy the sniper roosts and the turrets just to the south. Now, walk off the edge of the short cliff due south of where you picked up the Scorpion. Turn east and look for a glowing green panel on the cliff side where its meets the water. As soon as you hit this switch, a second switch will appear only very briefly on the wall in the lake, so coordinate this with your partner. When the second switch is activated in the lake, four Banshees will appear on the roof of the nearby building to the north.

Climb up and hop into a Banshee. You can freely explore the massive level, even the dogfight to the south. If you take out the AA cannons BEFORE you hit the switches (the AA guns seem to become invincible if you get the Banshees first) with the Scorpion, you can fly the Banshees through Sword Base's entrance gate and explore even more of the level. You can even land on the mountains all around the area and get out without dying.

Easter Egg: Access Dr. Halsey's OfficeYou'll need two players for this and you MUST play on Legendary. Skip to Rally Point Bravo on The Package. Play the level until Dr. Halsey announces her lab is open. Do not enter the lab or access the panel on the door to end the mission. If you don't have a Jet Pack, grab one from the northern side of the lab entrance area. They are on the wall without any flashy Armor Ability holograms so they are a bit hard to spot.

One player must stay in a safe spot while the other accesses a secret panel. Fly to the far eastern line of buildings. Run up the ramp and turn left, or north. A fenced off area on the upper level lines the out-of-bounds region to the northeast. Drop off the northeastern corner and ease your way towards the rocky out-of-bounds area below but do not touch it! Hover above it and look for a panel with a green light you can access on a girder. Hit X to activate it.

This will open a door on the north side of the Halsey's lab entrance. A half dozen Elites will stream out of here with Energy Swords. Fly over them or run a Ghost through them and enter the open door. You will then be transported to a hallway. Follow the hallway to the lab area where you can view a number of Easter Eggs, from readable data panels with inside jokes to old Halo art.